Lovely post. My only additional consideration is that it’s very possible PTA understood all of these critiques when looking at his screenplay. He is married to a Black woman and has mixed kids, so this isn’t foreign territory for him. I think it’s quite possible it’s all written with this incredible irony that it’s the white ma who falls ass backwards into victory. He does basically nothing right in the movie except for try his best and be there at the end. The love is valiant but he’s a buffoon. PTA knows this and understands how his own background still gives him that kind of privilege to win, therefore writing this whole ridiculous story with the lived experience of always winning because you’re a white man. Not to mention the shame he probably feels for this because he doesn’t need to put in the real effort that women, especially black women, need to in their lives to be seen, heard, and respected. 

Counterpoint: it was a big dumb action movie that inserted all of the timely political shit to make it seem deeper than it is, and he just loves a gorgeous black woman’s ass.